“The tragedy of Bondi was so preventable, because the writing was on the wall.”
Josh Frydenberg was Treasurer of Australia from 2018 to 2022, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, and for 12 years the member for Kooyong. His mother was born in Budapest in 1943 and reached Australia as a stateless refugee. Since the Bondi Hanukkah attack of 14 December 2025, he has become one of the most forceful voices in Australia against antisemitism.
In this episode, Claire Lehmann talks to Frydenberg about his new memoir, A Grateful Son, and the social and economic state of Australia. They discuss:
the legal campaign against his citizenship and why it brought back dark memories of the Holocaust
why he believes leadership on antisemitism can be the difference between life and death
what he says the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion must confront, including anti-Zionism, campus protests and what he calls a lack of moral clarity among the most educated
They also turn to the economy: whether economic malaise is fuelling social toxicity, the rise of populists like Zohran Mamdani, Australia’s budget deficit and capital gains tax changes, ending JobKeeper, Daniel Andrews’ COVID lockdowns, the coming Victorian election, and whether young Australians will have the same reasons to be grateful in 30 years’ time.
A Grateful Son by Josh Frydenberg (with Gideon Haigh): buy on Amazon
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